Lack of monkeys caused PS3’s Joe Danger publishing woes

Though Joe Danger turned out to be a hit with critics and gamers alike, …

We at Ars loved Joe Danger, a recently released PlayStation Network game developed by the four-man team at Hello Games. But, according to managing director Sean Murray, selling a game about a washed-up stuntman to publishers was no easy task, and in the end, the studio ended up self-publishing the title.

At the annual Develop conference in Brighton, UK, Murray revealed some of the reasons that publishers gave the studio for not wanting to publish Joe Danger. Originally reported by Develop Online, the list is as funny as it is depressing.

"Name me one popular game with motorbikes?"

"Collecting giant coins feels unrealistic to me"

"I can see this working as a Facebook app"

"We want games that are less about fun right now"

"We love the theme, but with a different game"

"We believe the iPhone will be largely unsupported"

"Can Joe be a monkey? We like Monkeys"

This story is a great example of why digital distribution is so important, especially for smaller indie developers—if the game was a traditional retail title, chances are it wouldn't ever see a release. And if it did, it wouldn't be the same game that hit PSN. Thankfully things worked out for the team, as Murray also announced that the game had moved 50,000 units on PSN in its first week alone.